Planning Commission OKs sidewalk extension

Meanwhile, it asks for Arts Commission's input on retaining wall along Mermaid Street and approves new business in former Green Cube space.

February 28, 2013|By Bryce Alderton

The Planning Commission approved a sidewalk extension along a portion of the Laguna Canyon's frontage road despite opposition from some commissioners and residents during its meeting Wednesday night inside City Council chambers.

The commission voted 3 to 2 to remove an existing curb, gutter and four trees and install a new curb, gutter, pedestrian access ramp and sidewalk from Woodland Drive south along Laguna Canyon Frontage Road to connect with an existing sidewalk.

The sidewalk would narrow the existing roadway by about 2 1/2 feet, to 15 1/2 feet once completed. The Boys & Girls Club and Sawdust Art Festival sit along the road. Planning Commission Chairman Norm Grossman reminded the public that they have 10 business days to appeal to the City Council if they wish.

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Angled parking spots would be changed to straight-on spots, resulting in 10 less parking spaces, assistant city engineer Mark Trestik told the audience.

Commissioners Anne Johnson, Linda Dietrich and Ken Sadler voted for the project while Grossman and Commissioner Robert Zur Schmiede opposed.

Zur Schmiede summed up some residents' concerns about what removing trees would do to the area.

Safety was on the minds of canyon residents who said drivers will often turn off from Laguna Canyon Road to take a shortcut along the parallel frontage road.

"The traffic is so bad that everyone … races down the frontage road," longtime canyon resident Sharon Risley told those in attendance. "People pass me on the right. We need a sidewalk there. The issue is safety."

Others questioned why a one-way road should be narrowed further to accommodate a sidewalk that leads to nowhere and suggested improving the existing walkway along the frontage road instead. I

Commissioner Anne Johnson said a sidewalk provides a safe place to move out of the way of cars backing out onto the road.

The Capital Improvement Fund has $40,000 budgeted for the project, which originated in March 2010, Trestik wrote in an email. At the time City Council members and several members of the public expressed support for the sidewalk during a council meeting, Trestik said.

If no appeals are made, the City Council would consider awarding a construction contract, Trestik said.